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It’s the end of another year… was it successful? Have you thought about your year, your successes and what you accomplished and learned, how you grew as a person or business-person, and what new skills you have? How do you know if you’re on track for the life you dream of and moving forward toward it if you haven’t? And how will you set solid goals or resolutions for next year if you haven’t answered those questions?

Below is a simple yet powerful 5 Question Practice to support you in creating the life and success you desire.

To live an extraordinary life you need to know what’s working and what’s not. You need the habit of appreciating your wins and having a big enough vision to turn losses into opportunities to learn (more wins). Harvesting is a powerful tool and habit, whether you do it daily, weekly, annually… or as a Thanks-giving or New Year’s Eve tradition. It gives you clarity about who and where you are, what you have and what you need to have the life that you desire… and helps you see how amazing you are.

It’s easy to get on the treadmill of life and not be creating the life you want or not give yourself credit for all you do. This is a powerful step to give you focus and clarity… Creating a Compelling Vision is the next step but that’s not until January. So let’s get started on your harvest!

Think of farming… you plant your crops, you work hard at helping them thrive, and then you pick them. You get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. You walk through your fields and look at the condition of them. You learn and plan next year’s crops based on what you learned.

Your harvest is walking back through your year, your project, your… whatever you’re finishing, before moving on to the next big thing. I do it with my coaching clients at the end of their coaching programs to help them see what they’ve accomplished, how much they’ve changed, what tools worked and didn’t work for them, and how to take and use all of that to build their future.

The value of a goal is not just the result, it’s also who you become in going for that goal or dream.

Your Harvest. Look back on your year…

1. What Were Your Accomplishments and Successes?

Often we have a lofty goal or something new we should be doing in our business. Let’s say the goal is blogging. Our first step might be to just learn about blogging, look at some different blogs and read up on them. The second might be to learn about the different blogging tools we can use, the next taking a class or jumping in and trying it. We might have done all this and still not be blogging, or not to the extent we want to. And what happens is, that’s what we focus on… how we aren’t blogging every day. We often don’t focus on all those steps along the way, all that we learned and accomplished. We focus on what we haven’t done.

A couple problems with that, first, who wants to work when their work is taken for granted? If we don’t acknowledge that we’re growing we’re not empowered to take the next steps or play big.

Next, one of the habits of very successful people is gratitude. Gratitude is paying attention to what works, what’s good, etc. They put their attention on what they have and they grow it. They don’t beat themselves up with ‘not good enough’ they focus on and grow their strengths, successes and good… and those in others.

In coaching, as my clients learn and grow and move forward, I point out those accomplishments and what it took. Then when it’s time for their next big stretch, they know their skills and talents and resources… their past empowers their present.

Your Turn! Dig in, think about your last year… what did you accomplish? What did you learn? What new skills do you have now? Were you tenacious about something, showing you can stick to it no matter what? What did you gather – friends, knowledge, social networking, skills? What did you create along the way? How much money did you make? Did you reach a goal you set? And what about those things that that you just felt really good about and then as time went on you forgot? What about those good things that happened, those flukes and “miracles” (often times when we put those in context we see how we had something to do with them)? What do you feel proud of your self for?

Just let this flow. I like to use bullet points. I find it’s hard to start but once I start they poor out, then I get stuck again, then it flows again. It’s just a process. Just trust your way of doing it. You can’t do it wrong. Just start listing your successes… personal and professional.

2. What Were You’re Breakthroughs and Stretches?

Some of these are those big bold breakthroughs, and sometimes these are those things that felt like failures at the time but now that you look back you see that you learned a lot and grew a lot. This is often more the internal stuff or the lessons about your process.

What did you do last year that you hadn’t before? What did you learn, maybe about your self, your life, business? What were some of those work/life lessons you learned that knocked you down and you got back up? What were some beliefs you had about you, business life, money, etc. that changed?

3. What’s Changed In Your Business, Your Life, You?

This is big picture and the results. This is the place to look at the impact all of the above had on you, your business, and your life. It’s easy to make changes and take if for granted, to not realize the change and not acknowledge what you’ve done or how far you’ve come. And it is so important to give yourself. This is that opportunity to really acknowledge what you’ve done and where it’s gotten you.

Between last year and this year, what’s different? What changed? How is your business better? How is your life better? How are you a better person? What have you learned? Who have you become?

4. What Worked, and What Didn’t? What’s Serving Me, and What’s Not?

Now that you’re on that solid ground of knowing what you’ve accomplished and the impact of it, it’s time to dissect a bit. Check in and make sure you’re going in the right direction, that things are working, that the things you’re doing are working for you.

Your answers to this question will really help you when it’s time to set your goals for next year. Think of the farming metaphor again… the farmer looking at his crop. Did he grow as many carrots as he wanted? Did he like the flavor? Do they bring in the money he wanted? Are they good for the land? What needs to change? What could he try? What did he try that didn’t work? All with thoughts of growing a better crop next year.

Now look at your “crop” closely, with the thought of being more successful next year… What were your failures, what didn’t work? What have you been doing that isn’t serving you? Did you put your time and energy into things that didn’t pan out? Were there things that created the desired result but felt like more work than they were worth? Maybe you found a new method of getting customers but found that they aren’t the type of people you want to work with – so the method worked but next year you’ll need to tweak something. Are you trying to do something because you think you should and you just can’t get it to work? Are you wasting your time on something?

5. Celebrate! Enjoy Your Harvest.

What would you like to acknowledge yourself for? You worked hard, I know that because a slacker would not still be reading.

When New Year Eve and that stroke of midnight comes, say and feel a moment of gratitude for all you’ve done and all it’s created. Building a business, being a leader, and making a difference are not easy. You have chosen a path worth walking, acknowledge your self for it… for who you are and what you’ve done.

Two simple ways to build your confidence and your business by being thankful.

Did you know business success is 80% mindset and only 20% business knowhow? Think of it this way… is there something in your business you know how to do and know you should be doing but you’re not doing it? That’s because it’s not just knowing how but having the right mindset to do what it takes. Being thankful/grateful is a powerful tool in getting you in that right mindset, by helping you know what’s great about you and helping you feel a positive connection between you and your clients and customers, can help your business tremendously and make everything easier.

Our beliefs about our selves and about those around uscan make everything we do difficult or easy.

1. Be thankful for you, what you do and what you have.

When we are thankful/grateful for our skills, talents and what we do and have done, we are recognizing what we have. The more you acknowledge and appreciate what you’re capable of and will do, the greater your confidence to do the next thing in front of you. You will feel more able. Even if it’s something you’ve never done because you know that in the past you were successful (or at least went for it) and this helps you take on bigger goals and push forward when things get tough.

What we put our attention on grows. If you’re putting your attention on what you haven’t done or how difficult things are, it’s easy to get stuck or to move forward very slowly. If you put your attention on how great and capable you are, everything feels easier.

Have I sold you on this yet? If so, here’s the exercise.
◊ Every night before you go to bed, list 5 of your days successes. Take some time to put your attention on what you do and on what you do well.
◊ For extra credit, practice saying kind and supportive things to your self while you’re working. This may sound corny but try it… Say, “Good Job!” and “Thank you for doing that for me.” to you.

You have what it takes and the more attention you put on what you do well the more confident you feel and the more able you are to take that next step and do what needs to be done. That’s powerful, and there is more.

2. Be Thankful for your customers and clients (or your boss).

This time of year I think back over my year and the people I’ve worked with, and how thankful I am that they hired me, and that I got to know them. And, I think of who they are, what they pushed through and how hard they work to make their difference in the world… to make our world better. I am so thankful for them (for you :)!

The more I think of them and how thankful I am for them, the more I want to get out there and do things for them.

Whether you’re writing a blog post ;) or marketing your self, how you feel about others and how you believe they feel about you can make that very easy or very difficult.

When I’m working with clients it’s often fear that stops them from going for what they really want and putting themselves out there as boldly as they’d like. That fear comes from either being afraid we’re not good enough (a belief most of us have, sadly) or being afraid that we or what we do aren’t going to be liked or well received.

Remembering who our clients are, getting into that place of thankfulness or gratitude and seeing “them” out there as friendly, makes it so much easier to put our selves and our products or services out there. It’s not rocket science, in fact it almost seems too simple but along with having business knowhow, this is the stuff that really works.

So, here is the second exercise:◊ Take some time to think about or write down what you’re thankful for about your clients and about what you love about them.
Extra credit:◊ After thinking about it, send them thank you cards and tell them.

Imagine how much easier things could be if you are thankful for your self and for “them”. You will feel better about you and the world, and your work should be a lot easier.

“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.” – Thomas Edison

Who are you really?

We are all so amazing, capable, talented, and valuable. And, we often don’t realize it because: one, we define our selves by who we were in the past or based on what someone else told us about who we are; two, we don’t take the time to see our gifts and talents; and three, many of our gifts, talents, wisdom, and insight came out of our most challenging experiences and we don’t consider them successes or take the time to see the tools we gained.

It’s time to acknowledge who you are so you can bring your Whole Self to the table, play bigger, and boldly make the difference in the world that only you can make.

~

The following questions will help you see your strengths and open up possibilities for your career, business focus/niche, and mission.

Often in life it’s a combination of our training, things that we love to do (like hobbies or interests), education, successes, and the wisdom gained through our challenges that prepare us for sharing something of great value and doing something extraordinary with our lives.

Owing what we have and bringing more of who we are into our work helps us do what we value and are interested in, and also use our unique skills, talents, and insights. It makes our work more rich, rewarding and fulfilling, and success easier because we see that we have what it takes and we’re passionate about it.

So, here are your questions:

Looking back over your life, in ten year increments…

1. What were the pivotal and valuable experiences in your life? How did they transform you and/or your life?

2. What were your successes (and best moments)?

3. What were your biggest challenges and what did you learn from them (what skills, talents, insights, and values, etc. did you gain through those)?

Before you start – It’s one thing to make a list, to take it up a notch, tell the story. Sometimes the biggest success isn’t what we did, it’s that we even did it. It’s also the values we expressed in doing it, what we learned, who we had to be in order to do it, etc.

Here is an example from my life. I think of first time I really spoke in public. This was way before I became a coach. I’d done a lot of personal development work and someone asked me if I was willing to share my story. The first time she asked, I said, “no”. It was probably followed with a reason or just an, “I can’t”. Even the idea of it absolutely terrified me.

I thought about it and it poked at me all week. When I saw her the next week I asked her if she’d ask me again. She asked if I could be the speaker. My eyes got big and I said, “That’s not what you asked me last time.” She thought for a moment, laughed and asked, “Are you willing to be the next speaker?” I said, “Yes, I’m willing.” I couldn’t even say I “could” but I was “willing”.

There is a lot more to the story but the point is… my “speaking in public” was big and only a small part of my success. Did I do a good job, yes, but that’s still only part. The real successes show when I dig in. What that day showed me: I am bold and driven. I am courageous and will push through my fears and do what I don’t think I can. I’m willing to do what it takes no matter what. I care more about being of service than I do about my ego. And, after I shared my story, the next person who spoke said, “So, I guess the topic is gratitude”. Wow! That story empowers me. It helps me remember who I really am. It helps me stand up, stand out, and make my difference. And, when I speak now and fear comes up, based on my success, I know what motivates me and I focus on that (being of service).

Another place to look for our skills, strengths, and wisdom and what’s important and valuable to us is through our challenges and hardships.

My mom had a strange habit of leaving me with strangers, either at homes of people I hardly knew or she and I’d go out and she’d wander off to talk with others for very long periods of time. It was a bit challenging, to say the least. And, if you know me now, one of the things you might have noticed is that I can talk to anyone. Also, I’m very easy to talk to and make most people feel very comfortable.

The first skill, talking to anyone, was a survival skill… and I’m so grateful I have it even if they way it came about was very challenging. The second, helping people feel at ease, probably has to do with empathy. I know what it feels like to be very uncomfortable so I help that to not happen with others. It’s now a strong value of mine. Both of those benefit me greatly not only in life but in my business. So sometimes our greatest education, values, and skills come from the most challenging experiences in our lives.

One last thing before moving on to your questions, we often define our selves based on who we were told we are or based on the past and who we were. This exercise is to help you define and decide who you really are. Take some time with it. Own your good.

After writing down your answers, go through them and highlight the ones with the most meaning to you. It’ll tell you a lot about you, what’s important to you, your values, what you know, and who you really are.

And… as with any exercise I share, do it your way. There is no right or wrong. Trust your self and your wisdom. Add or change any questions or the wording in the questions to make them work for you… and enjoy your self! Mainly, just do it. You deserve to know how great you are and the world needs what you have.

What could you complete today or this week? Or what could you just let go of because it doesn’t really need to be done? Having things sitting unfinished takes up mental space and energy that you could use for much bigger and better things.

This was my pile of books. I used the process from the book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” to let go of so many books. It was a great process.

The beginning of this year I got rid of a bunch of books (Over 150. I read a lot.). When I did this, I realized some of my books had started to feel like a “To Do List” or “books I should read or do something with”. I found from talking with some of my clients, it’s the same for them. You?

One of the books I got rid of was Steven Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People“. I know it’s a good book and I tried to read it many times, even bought the CDs, and just couldn’t get through it. I think it’s because it’s info I already know. But it’s one of the best success books out there and I felt like I should read it (also true with one of my clients). It felt great to just let that go.

Then today I was working on something and needed info from the book… so I googled “summary of….” and Voila! I found the summary and learned a few things in the process.

Powerful tips…

1. The book is great, attached is the summary version (I still didn’t finish it).

2. If something is not right for you (or me), trust that. You know your self best. Let go of what doesn’t work and find something that’s right for you.

3. Letting-go-of or taking-on one incomplete a day or week is a powerful practice and can free up your energy and creativity to do the important things that you want to do. Having a list and checking them off as we complete them or let them go, can be very powerful.

If you’re an entrepreneur, executive, business owner, service provider or in sales the economy right now may be affecting your business but whether or not your business succeeds or fails is up to you, not the economy. That’s good news.

In every economy there are businesses within the same industry that fail and businesses that come out ahead. The difference is often you. Are you feeling stuck and paralyzed by outside influences, like the economy, or have you decide that you will do what it takes and be successful, no matter what.

There are two responses to what’s going on right now, either fear or opportunity. Either you feel overwhelmed and shrink or you see what you’re made of, what you can do and strengthen yourself to meet those outside influences (Yahoo!). It’s all perspective and choice. In every economy there are people that come out ahead, that make money and do great. Why not have it be you that succeeds!

Your Attitude. It starts with your attitude. It’s not just about pushing harder, it’s about coming up with good ideas, following through on them, and doing so in a way that works. With a negative attitude, with a belief that things are bad and won’t work, none of that is possible. So, to create a successful business and be a winner start from within and follow up with action.

Empower yourself by what you think and say and do… these tips may seem too simple but give them a try and see if they make a difference in your life and your business. These are tools I use with my clients (and myself) to go from being stuck to excitement and success. When I started using these with my clients I was astounded at the raves from those clients and results they were getting. If you practice (not perfection, practice) these, and keep progressing forward using them, your life and your business will change.

Step #1 – Start Your Day by Reading Something Positive. Before you start looking at your To Do List, take fifteen minutes or an hour to read something positive, a book on success, prosperity, spirituality, wealth, positive thinking, a book that teaches about your industry – something to get you in a positive frame of mind first thing in the morning. Some of my current recommendations are:

Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

The Magic of Thinking Big – David Schwartz

Secrets of Six Figure Woman – Barbara Stanny

You Can Heal Your Life – Louise Hay

The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity – Catherine Ponder

Read something that inspires and empowers you, that makes you feel good, like you could conquer the world, or at least your world. Start your day on a positive note.

Step #2 – Decide What You’ll Accomplish Each Day. I’ve noticed with my clients that when things get challenging and they get stressed they start doing busy work instead of going for it, they start feeling overwhelmed and freeze. So, after raising your attitude and outlook by your positive reading, decide where you want to go next with your business, what you need to do to be successful and what you’ll do today to get there. Set goals and make a plan for your day. Decide what you want to do, where you want to go, and how successful you want to be.

Okay, your attitude is better, the next step is the doing.

Step #3 – Take Action – Do What It Takes To Succeed. Do what you need to do today. You’ll feel better. Do something that will give you a sense of accomplishment and that will make a difference in your life and for your business. Make some sales calls, go to a networking event and network, do that thing that you’ve been putting off… Do Something. Show yourself that you mean business, that you’re going for it, and that you are going to get it. Be a success today!

Having a positive attitude is very important and it needs to be followed by directed action to create your good (success, prosperity, wealth, happiness). It’s taking your power back instead of feeling controlled by outside influences. Create what you want, not what you think is possible based on the economy or any other outside influence. Decide what you want to create and take the action to do it.

Step #4 – Take That Action That You’ve Been Putting Off! If you’re not at the very top of your game, leading in your industry, there are things that you could be doing that you’re not and you know it. Pick one that inspires you, that will expect more of you than you are giving now and do it. Choose something that you know would benefit your business. We can feel insecure, we get scared, we don’t think we’re good enough to do that next thing, to reach to that next level, but now is the time, the economy is giving us the opportunity to be more than we thought we could. Stretch yourself. Go for it.

Now that you’ve created a great day for yourself, appreciate yourself and all your hard work, and take stock of all the good that is.

Step #5a – Write a Nightly Gratitude List – One of the best things to get you into a better mental space, knowing that good is possible, is to focus on the good that already is. Think about all you have – your skills, your friends, your opportunities, all the good in your life and business… your customers/clients past, present and future. List what you do have. To have a quick shift write a list of “100 Things I’m Grateful For.”

Then every night before you fall asleep write a list of *10 Things I’m Grateful For* so your subconscious mind thinks of all your good while you sleep. You’ll sleep better and wake in the morning feeling better. (Won’t that help your business… and all of your life?)

Step #5b – Acknowledge Your Successes – Along with what your grateful for, write what you did today to build your business and make your life better? Before you go to sleep appreciate and value yourself, write a list of *5 of My Successes Today* so you are focusing on what you have done versus the things that you didn’t do. There will always be things we didn’t do but focusing on them breaks us down. Focusing on what we did empowers us to do more and do it better. And again, you’ll sleep better and you’ll start focusing on what you are doing. You’ll see the power you have to change your world and your business, you’ll feel better and want to do more because you’re appreciating and valuing you.

In every situation we have the opportunity to build ourselves up to meet the situation or to be beaten by it. This is a great time to build new tools and create new habits for yourself. Try these for a week and pay attention to any differences in your business and life. If they work and support you now, imagine how great they’ll work when the economy swings back around.

You can turn this challenging time into your adventure… don’t you want to know what you’re made of? Don’t you want to live to your potential? What could you do now, that you haven’t done before? We all want to fulfill our potential, to see what we’re made of and what we’re capable of. The economy is giving you your chance, what you do with it is up to you…

This is one of my favorite times of the year. The end of an old year and the start of the new. It feels so powerful and magical… like anything is possible. It’s a new beginning.

Here is a practice I learned, to powerfully end a year and make way for the new. I hope you enjoy it.

Years ago I was lucky enough to get invited to spend New Years Eve with a Shaman. It was an amazing night. Along with a potluck dinner, a jigsaw puzzle and the Twilight Zone playing in the background we did some rituals. It was a powerful experience and since that night, I do my own version of it every year, creating a sacred experience of the end of the year. It can take hours or moments; you can do it alone or with friends. The trick is to make it something that is powerful for you.

First, Celebrate the Good – we often go from one year to the next without really looking and celebrating our good. It can be very empowering and motivating to put your attention on your good. Pullout a piece of paper, think about and write down the good that happened in your life, your successes, and what you’re really grateful for. Then spend a bit of time being grateful and re-enjoying the items on your list and see what you’ve done. Remembering these will help you next year as you step into creating the new. If you’re with others, share what’s on your list…you’re successes and what you’re grateful for.

Next, Let go of the Bad – the end of a year is a great time to decide to let go of things that are no longer serving you. It is us, our habitual thoughts and beliefs, that hold on to things. We can let them go when we choose. You can decide this time is sacred and powerful. Pullout a new piece of paper. What do you want to let go of? Write down resentments, things that feel like failures, hurts, a habit, belief or way of being that’s not serving you, whatever you want to let go of and release yourself from.

After you’ve finished writing, look at your list and decide if you are willing to let go. If you are, burn the paper. Decide that you are letting go and free. Watch the paper burn. I like to put the ashes into my garden to remind myself that challenges often are just what is needed to move into something greater.

That’s it. Now CELEBRATE! You are free to move powerfully into the New Year. Congratulations! It may seem too simple but it is the meaning we give something that makes it powerful and sacred. Give it meaning and power.

If you choose, you can start on your desires for next year. I like to give it some time. Allowing myself to just be in that spacious and exciting place of possibilities and potential before stepping forward on New Year’s Day to create my vision for the New Year.

Congratulations for who you’ve become. May 2015 be your best year yet!

To Your Success! Lisa

p.s. If you’d like help creating a powerful vision for 2015 for you and your business , join us for January’s Mastermind with a Mission™ “Creating Your Compelling Vision for 2015” January 7th at 2:00 pm in Seattle. I’ve extended the early bird special until January 1st at 11:59 pm just in case. Click here to sign-up. It would be great to have you and to support you in having an Extraordinary 2015!

At a business networking event I met a man, we’ll call him Bill. He seems like a nice, smart guy with some level of success. And, he’s negative. He talks only about the problem. His response to solutions that are offered is that they won’t work and it’s just the way it is, more problems. Life is the way it is and he just has to deal with it and it’s not working. But that’s just the way it is. Here’s how Bill’s attitude made a difference in his life.

Bill has a great business idea. He has a unique and interesting marketing/advertising product that he wants to take to Bentley… but he doesn’t know how to get in touch with them. He doesn’t know his next step or how to get started, and shoots down ideas.

Sitting across the table from him is a woman who is very connected in the car world. (Me! I love classic cars. I was recently driven around the countryside in a friend’s 1927 Bentley. Sweet! I know car guys.) With a phone call or two I could introduce Bill to the right people. Those people would not only be willing to talk to him, but knowing my friends, they would also help him succeed.

Bill’s success is steps away.

But, with his negative attitude, those steps are a chasm because: 1. When I even talked about it, Bill shot me down. He told me what wouldn’t work and why. 2. I’m not going to introduce him to my friends with that attitude… and even if I did, his response would probably be to tell them, these very successful and supportive entrepreneurs, why it wouldn’t work and to complain about all his problems, versus asking them for help and a solution to those problems. It’s like the sales person that says to potential customers, “You don’t want to buy this, do you?” and then wanders around saying that selling their product isn’t possible.

I tried to talk to Bill about his negativity but he doesn’t believe all this positive attitude stuff. He doesn’t “get” how it can make a difference. He doesn’t see that his attitude is not only keeping him from the financial success of his product, it’s keeping him from meeting amazing, successful people that could help him change his life.

One of the major things I do as a professional development coach is work on attitude and the belief in possibility. The above is an extreme case but most people think their dreams are impossible. They aren’t. It’s just a limiting belief. Maybe it sounds like this… “I’d love to do _____ but I’m too ______.” You fill in the blanks. I hear it all the time. Dreams are squashed before they’re even attempted.

When my clients start believing the dream they have may be possible and they start talking about it, the results are miraculous. I thought about using a less woo-woo word but they are miraculous. I often find myself in awe of how things can completely turn around and what they accomplish in a week… if they just believe that maybe it can, and start talking about what they want and taking the next indicated step.

If you’ve been stuck in any area of your life, let go of the being stuck, stop talking about it and thinking about it. Focus on and talk about what you want… the solution you desire. Start thinking about who you may know and who they know that might be able to direct and connect you. Don’t complain, blame, criticize, minimize or maximize the problem (and don’t hang out with others that do that either). Decide that you will win. Do whatever it takes to get your self positive; study success, do affirmations and practice thinking positive thoughts, learn, be around positive people, do a gratitude list. Do whatever it takes. Decide that you will go for it and do it, whatever it takes, take action. A change in your attitude can take you from failure to success… your attitude impacts your actions and the actions of those around you… those impact your results.

By the way… your attitude is a habit and like any muscle. The more you use it, positively or negatively, the more it will grow and the easier it will become to use it either positively or negatively. It’s not outside of your control… it’s a choice.

It’s not the economy… it’s your life. Make a choice… dig in, get messy, go for what you want, decide it can be, talk to others about your dream, and take forward action… go for extraordinary because any other choice sucks!

What if… the adversity you’re facing in your business/life right now is not just a problem but an opportunity that holds within it all the growth and learning opportunities to take you beyond it, and help you fulfill your potential?

I’ve heard Carl Jung’s line “what you resist, persists” many times and I didn’t really get it until this week, or not to the extent that I do now.

Our challenges are not problems, per se; they are the solution to our problems. Yes, there is something “wrong”, something that is not working. But not something to avoid and be afraid of, not something wrong about us. Those challenges offer us…offer you…the opportunity to grow and learn, and become what and who you need to, to move forward the next step.

If we resist that lesson or growth, we stay stuck where we are. The problem stays or comes up over and over in different ways. We can try to do other things to fix our self… and the problem is still there because… the only way through, is through. The only way to truly get beyond it, is to step into it and learn what it is trying to teach us.

The challenges (this economy, divorce, addiction, etc.) are something to embrace, not feel victim of. Responding to the problem, instead of reacting to it is our next step to build our self and fulfill our personal potential (growing better financial skills & choices, building relationship and partnership tools, self power and self care versus avoidance, etc.).

It’s about knowing we are capable, that there is a solution and “using” the problem as our opportunity to grow. Using the “bad situation” to our advantage… using it to grow our strength, our skills, our capabilities, our confidence, and our personal success and spiritual tools. Growing these one step at a time in the area most needed, the one bugging you the most, now so that we grow into all that we are meant to be.

I love using nature as a metaphor… Imagine a flower.

First, you’re just a seed in the ground. Hanging out in the dirt, just being. Time goes by, and you start having this desire of wanting to be more, somewhere in you, you know you are meant to grow. You keep thinking about it. Then one day you crack open! What the…!

That would be seriously scary, I think.

Then things start growing out of you, roots and a stem…what the heck! Then you pop into daylight…Whoa! Ouch! And then the first leaf starts…a bump, a weird growth on your side. You don’t know what it is… is it good, is it bad? And you keep growing and getting stronger and bigger…each step of the way, making way for the next, even fall and winter, every step preparing you for the next phase of you being what you are meant to be.

…But what if, when that first root came out, it scared you, and you spent all you energy trying to hold it in. What if you were the first seed around to crack open and you were embarrassed because you felt different or broken, and you tried to stop growing. What if you thought, “I don’t know how to do that” so you resisted your natural instincts and intuition of what to do. Or that first flower started to bloom, like the other flowers around you, and you thought “I’m not good enough to do that” and you held closed, not showing your magnificence… Sound familiar? Take a deep breath.

The thing is, each step along the way, like the flower, will bring you to the next place. Each step is necessary for your fulfillment. Every root and leaf might have felt new and wrong and frightening, and every bit was necessary for that flower to fulfill it’s potential.

No matter how big or frightening what you’re facing is, it is an opportunity for you to become all you are meant to be.

We all have areas in our life where we get stuck, where we stop our selves from fulfilling our potential. Instead of doing the things we fear or feel less-than (not capable of) we avoid in whatever way we do (tv, booze, busyness, eating, etc.), and we don’t build that skill, talent, or muscle to get through it. Then we can’t do the next thing. We’re stuck. We also break down our self confidence, our personal power, our faith, our belief in the rightness of things and that we can handle whatever comes up.

We can get stuck in any area. It can be over something like an opportunity to speak in front of 10’s of thousands of people, standing up for what we believe in at work, trying a bold new way of doing when everyone is doing something else, breaking out of our status quo. It can be about feeling not good enough as you are (too young, old, tall, short, etc.). It can be having a conversation we’re afraid of, doing what we long to but feel too small to or knowing it’s not “normal”. It can be our finances. It can be feeling stuck in our business or our relationship or our weight. It can be just trusting that we’re great, going for what we want when it doesn’t feel feasible, or being who we want to be. It is anywhere in life where we feel stuck or powerless, where we are complaining, blaming and reacting versus responding and feeling we have a choice and making that choice.

What’s that quote again? “What we resist, persists.” Whatever we don’t face, whatever we don’t learn, whatever skill we don’t acquire, whatever we don’t accept and do what we can with, it will keep us stuck, it will keep things not working. And, the good news…

Within the challenge in front of you, is your opportunity to fulfill your potential.

It’s the end of another year. Was it successful? Have you thought about you’re your year, your successes and what you accomplished and learned this year? Have you thought about how you grew as a person or business person, and what new skills you have? How will you set solid goals for next year, if you haven’t answered those questions?

There are three big reasons to stop and harvest our successes:

1. To acknowledging our self and our accomplishments, because who wants to work hard and have their work taken for granted? Not many of us, but we do it to our selves all the time. Harvesting feels good, it lets us see our growth and therefore empowers.

2. To clearly see who we’ve become and grown into so that next years goals and vision are bigger, not our old comfortable status quo, something new and exciting to us. Seeing how we’ve changed lets us know that we can do that next big thing.

3. To learn what worked and what didn’t. Harvesting is about looking at our “crop” so to speak and seeing if we’re happy with it. Are we growing what we wanted? It’s so easy in life to set a direction, move toward it, and not check in later to see if it’s right for us.

Harvesting is about celebrating all that you’ve done and all that you’ve become, and then clearly looking at your harvest before setting out and making next years goals and vision (which will be January’s topic). Both will lead to a more powerful and successful future.

Think of farming… you plant your crops, you work hard at helping them thrive, and then you pick them. You get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. The Harvest is walking back through your year, your project, your…whatever. I do it with my coaching clients at the end of their coaching program to help them see what they’ve accomplished, how much they’ve changed, what tools worked and didn’t work for them, and how to take and use all of that to build their future.

The value of a goal is not just the result, it’s also who you become in going for that goal or dream… in going for something extraordinary.

Your Harvest. Look back on your year…

1. What Were Your Accomplishments and Successes?

So often, we will have a lofty goal or something new we should be doing in our business. Let’s say the goal is blogging. Our first step might be to just learn about blogging, look at some different blogs and read up on them. The second might be to learn about the different blogging tools we can use. The next, taking a class or jumping in and trying it. We might have done all this and still not be blogging, or not to the extent we want to. And what happens is, that’s what we focus on. We often don’t focus on all those steps along the way, all that we learned and accomplished. We focus on what we haven’t done. How we aren’t blogging every day.

A couple problems with that, again, yes, who wants to work when their work is taken for granted… and there is another big one. We tend to not to let our accomplishment empower us…

As a coach, as my clients learn and grow and move forward, I point out those accomplishments so that when it’s time for their next big stretch, they know they can do it… they clearly see they have in the past and that empowers their present.

Dig in, think about your last year… what did you accomplish? What did you learn? What new skills do you have now? Were you tenacious about something, showing you can stick to it no matter what? What did you gather – friends, knowledge, social networking people and skills? What did you create along the way? How much money did you make? Did you reach a goal you set? And what about those things that that you just felt really good about and then as time went on you forgot? What about those good things that happened, those flukes and “miracles” (often times when we put those in context we see how we had something to do with them)? What do you feel proud of your self for?

Just let this flow. I like to use bullet points. I find it’s hard to start but once I start they poor out, then I get stuck again, then it flows again. It’s just a process. Just trust your way of doing it. You can’t do it wrong. Just start listing your successes… personal and professional.

2. What Were You’re Breakthroughs and Stretches?

Some of these are those big bold breakthroughs, and sometimes these are those things that felt like failures at the time but now that you look back you learned a lot and grew a lot. This is more the internal stuff or the lessons about your process.

What did you do last year that you hadn’t before? What did you learn, maybe about your self, your life, business? What were some of those work/life lessons you learned that knocked you down and you got back up? What were some beliefs you had about you, business life, money, etc. that changed?

3. What’s Changed In Your Business and Your Life?

This is the big picture and the results. This is the place to look at the impact all of the above had on you, your business, and your life. It’s easy to make changes and not realize the change… not acknowledge what you’ve done or how far you’ve come. It’s important to see how far you’ve come. This is that opportunity to really acknowledge what you’ve done and where it’s gotten you.

Between last year and this year, what’s different? What changed? How is your business better? How is your life better? How are you a better person?

4. What Worked, and What Didn’t? What’s Serving Me, and What’s Not?

Now that you’re on that solid ground of knowing what you’ve accomplished and the impact of it, it’s time to dissect a bit. Check in and make sure you’re going in the right direction, that things are working, that the things you’re doing are working for you.

Your answers to this question will really help you when it’s time to set your goals for next year. Think of the farming metaphor again… the farmer looking at his crop. Did he grow as many carrots as he wanted? Did he like the flavor? Do they bring in the money he wanted? Are they good for the land? What needs to change? What could he try? What did he try that didn’t work? All with thoughts of growing a better crop next year.

Now look at your “crop” closely, with the thought of being more successful next year… What were your failures, what didn’t work? What have you been doing that isn’t serving you? Did you put your time and energy into things that didn’t pan out? Were there things that created the desired result but felt like more work than they were worth? Maybe you found a new method of getting customers but found that they aren’t the type of people you want to work with – so the method worked but next year you’ll need to tweak something. Are you trying to do something because you think you should and you just can’t get it to work? Are you wasting your time on something?

5. Celebrate! Enjoy Your Harvest.

What would you like to acknowledge yourself for? You worked hard, I know that because a slacker would not still be reading.

When New Year Eve and that stroke of midnight comes, say and feel a moment of gratitude for all you’ve done and all it’s created. Building a business, being a leader, and making a difference are not easy. You have chosen a path worth walking, acknowledge your self for it… for who you are and what you’ve done.

What if business doesn’t have to be that hard? What if there is an easier, more empowering and powerful way to do your business and get extraordinary results? Are you willing to find out?

A miracle... or just normal?

Last year, I was in Vancouver for a long vacation weekend. The man I was dating and I were spending a lovely holiday day wandering Granville Island. Fun, laughter, me being my friendly self…

A woman in a Gingerbread Woman costume comes up. I loved it and my friend took a great picture of us. The Gingerbread Woman is totally in character. There is a person dressed as a Wolf across the street checking her out… like he was hungry for lunch. She looked sadly at me and said, “It’s hard being a cookie.” We laughed, I gave her a hug, and we were off on our way. It was one of those ‘extraordinary moments’ in life.

A little while later, I noticed that my purse felt light. I looked and I couldn’t find my camera. I wracked my brain and we started looking for it. We looked everywhere for the next 20 plus minutes. No luck. My friend being from New York decided it was probably a set up. Gingerbread Woman gets close to us, wolf distracts us, camera or wallet is gone. It made sense and we’d looked everywhere… and I mean everywhere. And we asked everywhere we’d been. It was starting to look like the Gingerbread Woman had taken my camera.

Well, this is me. I did not want to believe that she would do that. I believe people are good, even though everything pointed to something else. It was the Gingerbread woman, I refused to allow my world to be tainted that way. Well, I told him that. He humored me. And we decided to take one more go around. We separated to do one more go around…

Then I did something interesting. I still don’t know how it came to me… I stood, closed my eyes, took a deep breath. In my mind I said and knew, “I am connected to everything.” And I could picture it, being connected to everything. My feet connected to the ground under me, connected to the sidewalk, to the road, to every building and thing on it. “That being the case, if my camera is here, I know where it is.” I took another big breath, opened my eyes and started walking.

It reminded me a bit of being a kid messing around with a divining rod to find water. I didn’t know what I was doing. I just knew I didn’t want my camera to be stolen and all that would leave me with.

I just walked where I felt drawn. I chose a direction. I decided to cross the street. In about a block I walked in front of a shop. There was something in the window that caught my eye, just something. It wasn’t anything but it held my attention. I looked up and in and made brief eye contact with the shopkeeper. I kept walking on… and then I felt…well, it was like an energetic tug on the back of me. I stopped. I oddly felt a little embarrassed because I’d just walked by the shop, but turned around and went in. I just had this feeling, that I can’t even describe…I just knew to walk in there.

I walked in feeling very odd because I hadn’t been in that shop that day, but asked, “Did you by any chance find a camera.”

Her response was strange, “What’s your favorite animal?” She had my camera and they’d been looking at the pictures in it, trying to find out whose camera it was. “You should have a card or something with your number on it or something.” Whoa!

I was stunned. My camera was there. We had *not* gone into that shop. There was no “reason” for me to go into that shop and ask.

When I found my friend, he was stunned. Every once in a while on the whole way home and after, he would shake his head and look at me, and make a comment. He didn’t know what to think. I’d just smile.

Okay… now to using this in business.

In my business I can get so stuck in “trying to figure it out”. One of the problems is that I don’t know “how” I found my camera… well, I know what I did. I know it worked. But “how” did it work.

That’s the problem. It’s been hard for me to own that I do know, and I was part of the solution. What I did worked. With things like that, I forget that I do know how, that I did do something. No matter how hard I tried to find my camera that day from a place of common sense, I couldn’t find it. We’d looked conservatively 20 minutes but it could have been 40 or more, and Granville Island isn’t that big. We’d also asked for a lot of help. Nothing.

It took me stopping the search, trusting my self, knowing that I know, and taking the action that felt right.

This is what I do with my clients. They choose what results they want. We come up with a basic strategy of what to do next, and they take that next indicated step, and the next. Time after time, if they follow through, I am AMAZED at their results, how quickly and big. It took one of my clients less than two months to do something she’d been working at and “figuring” with lots of help “figuring” for nine years with no forward motion.

First, it’s opening up to the possibility that things can work, they can have what they want. This is where I put a lot of attention with people. We don’t try because we don’t believe it will work. Then, taking action and paying attention to what’s working and what’s not when they do. Again, it’s a lot of me pointing out that it is working. I’ve found we really tend to focus on the part of the path that isn’t working. And, continuing to follow what has that ‘right’ feeling, that tug for them. As long as they keep moving forward remarkable business results happen.

Whether it’s Stephen Covey’s “start with the end in mind”, Einstein’s quote about not being able to solve a problem with the same consciousness it was created, the ideas in “The Secret”, or David Schwartz talking about an “I’m-positive-I-can attitude”. There is something that happens when we stop, trust our self, not just our brain but our whole self, and believe that it can work.

Yes, my experience sounds quite woo-woo, but was it? The most vital things we do, we do naturally… breathing, our blood flowing, our heart beating, feeling love. So why in business do we go into our head and try to figure it out? Okay, okay… we can spend all day with answers to that question. Let’s not. Let’s ask better questions…

What if it could work easily?

How can I tap into that most intelligent and powerful part of my Self this minute and use it? Then trust what feels right, the tug?

Sometimes it’s a random idea of something to try, or a person to call. A story will come up, like this one did for me today. Sometimes it’s overhearing a conversation and making a comment. Tune in to that tug. (see my comment at the end of this post to hear two of my tugs.)

Just like you trust when your body wants to breath. Take a minute to do that. If you hold your breath just for a second, there is that feeling of wanting to breath. It’s a good practice. This is simple but profound… because what could you do with this kind of power? One of the great things about this power, it’s a good power we can trust. It doesn’t work unless it feels right to us, unless it fits with our soul’s values.

I would love to tell you just how I knew to do what I did that day, how I miraculously found my camera, how we could all repeat what I did, and have things turn out that perfect every day. I can’t. And I don’t think that’s the answer. The answer is… believe that it can happen, check in with your highest, biggest Self (not your brain) however you do that today, as best as we can, and trust our Self…and take action.

…this is funny. I don’t know how to end this. I was ‘trying to figure it out’. Now I’m sitting here laughing… I think I’ll take my own advice…

Stop.
Breathe.
Trust.

Oh…(interesting!)… the ending… I don’t have your answer… you do. I’m just the inspiration. Don’t do it my way, do it your way. We keep looking for the answer outside our self… you’re answer is within. The dreams and desires that you have are yours alone, unique. The fulfillment of them is just as unique. Let your remarkable results be easy. Don’t use your brain to figure it out. Trust your Self. Trust there is a way, and that the next step is right in front of you. Take that step, and the next…

I did not read anywhere to stop and connect with the energy of the sidewalk… in fact, my intellectual brain would never have come up with that. I don’t know where the idea came from. I just stopped and trusted my Self and took the action I felt drawn to. Now it’s your turn… Stop. Breath. Trust Your Self. Take Your action.

Love You,
Lis’

This works for Corporations as well as individuals. For more inspiration in doing things your way, trusting you, and getting extraordinary business results…

Check out the book “Big Think Strategy: How to Leverage Bold Ideas and Leave Small Thinking Behind” By Bernd H. Schmitt, Harvard Business School Press